Help with the Digital Application

The aim of this document is to give local authority colleagues guidance to help them prepare and submit a Coming Home Fund Application on ILF Scotland’s digital portal.

Applications to the Coming Home Fund must be submitted by local authorities in collaboration with health and social care colleagues on behalf of disabled people who are category Red on the Dynamic Support Register (DSR) red category, which indicates the highest priority level.

Applications should be submitted through the local authority portal available to local authority practitioners. We are unable to receive applications through alternative channels at this stage. We will monitor and, if this causes difficulties, will look at possible future development.

The portal requires a login. If you don’t already have one, you should be able to create one yourself by using the following link: https://fundapplications.ilf.scot/localauthorityportal/Signup

If you already have a login for the ILF Scotland portal that you use to submit applications to our re-opened Independent Living Fund, you can use the same login to submit a Coming Home application.

Once you have created a login you will be able to access the local authority portal via the following link: https://fundapplications.ilf.scot/localauthorityportal/Login

You can access this link from any network and any application you start will be saved, which means that providing you have an internet connection available at the time, you will be able to directly fill in sections when you meet a potential Recipient.

If you need assistance setting up a log in for the application portal for the Coming Home Fund, please email digit@ilf.scot. For any other general enquiries please contact the Coming Home Team on cominghome@ilf.scot.

This guidance is designed to help you use the portal. It does not provide guidance on policy or practice. For the latest policies and guidance, please visit our website.

We welcome feedback from those who use the guidance and the application form to help us make improvements. Please provide feedback by emailing cominghome@ilf.scot.

Step 1 – Creating an Application

Note:  If you haven’t logged into the portal since 30 July 2025, you may need to reset your password before accessing your account.

Once you have logged in you will see the screen below. Please click on the Coming Home Application button to enter the section of the portal where you can create and manage a Coming Home application.

The next screen will be where you will see a list of all the applications you have started and those you have submitted to the Coming Home Fund. This will be empty the first time you login. To create an application, click on Create A New Coming Home Application.

Step 2 – Access Principles

When you create an application, you will see the Access Principles screen. Here we ask you a short set of questions to allow you to confirm that the person on whose behalf you are applying meets the Coming Home Access Principles.

We may verify this information when we visit the potential Recipient.

Clicking Yes on the screen below will take you to the application. If you click No you will not be able to continue.

Step 3 – Application Navigation

When you create an application, you will see the screen below that shows the sections of the application you have completed. You can navigate to each individual section, but you will not be able to submit the application until all sections are complete.

You can fill in the application in the order that suits you, which means that you can start the application in the office and complete it when you visit a potential Recipient and vice-versa.

At the end of each section, you will have a check your answers screen that will display your response. If you need to change some of the answers you can click change and it will navigate to the question you need to change.

Some fields have validation on formats, which means that if a field should be in a specific format and you have not input the information in this way, an error message appears so that you can rectify your answers.

Step 4 – Key Application Details

(Applicant’s representative / About the applicant)

Most of the questions in these two sections are self-explanatory, however it is worth noting the following:

• If someone other than the potential Recipient is consenting to the application on their behalf, for instance because of the potential Recipient’s capacity to consent, we will refer to this person as the representative.

• At this stage we have not made an offer and, therefore, there is no Award Manager. It may be that the representative will become the Award Manager, but it may be someone else. This will be confirmed during the visit.

• The names of the potential Recipient that you give us should be the name that they want to be known as. In some cases, this might be different from the name on their official documentation. For instance, they may have changed their name but haven’t yet completed the paperwork. We can accept this because:
  • the local authority has already verified the person’s identity as part of providing Self-Directed Support (SDS) and you are therefore able to confirm who they are
  • we collect the person’s National Insurance number and whereas a person may be known under different names they can only have one National Insurance number
  • we may verify the representative’s identity later if their consent is required for the application or if they become the Award Manager

• Please make sure you supply us with contact emails and telephone numbers.

• The date of birth field will not allow you to submit an application for someone who is less than 16 years old.

We have summarised all the personal details we are collecting in the Annex.

Step 5 – Integrated Authority (IA) Funding (HSCP / NHS)

The information we require in this section is:

• the weekly cost of the support that the Integrated Authority (LA / HSCP / NHS) provides or will provide the potential Recipient
• details of the support provided for example 5 hours per week at a cost of £15 per hour, 2 days in a respite centre per month at a cost of £100 per day, daily transport 5 times a week at a cost of £15 per day etc.

Unlike the Independent Living Fund, there is no statutory funding threshold for Coming Home Funding.

Step 6 – Application Details

In this section you may wish to prepare your answers on a Word document and cut and paste to the portal for ease of input.

There are five key sections in this part of the application:

What is the applicant’s disability or impairment?

This question is a tick-box screen where you can select several options at the same time.

If you select Other, a free text box will appear allowing you to input up to 3,000 characters of additional information.

Note: Please remember that Coming Home Funding is only for those with a primary diagnosis of learning disability.

Background Information

In this section you will have the option to submit background information in the form of free text (up to 4,000 characters) or by attaching documentation (up to 5 documents with a file size limit of 5MB). In some cases, you may have background information in the form of a standard document, for example, a support plan, and it may be easier to upload that. If the document contains information that is not relevant to the application, you may opt to use the free text box instead.

Current Barriers to Discharge

This section allows you to tell us about the potential Recipient’s current barriers to discharge or living independently in the community.

You can select from more than one option on the list. If you select Other, a free text box will appear allowing you to input up to 3,000 characters of additional information.

Independent Living

This section is a free-text box so that you can let us know how the applicant intends to use any Coming Home Funding in addition to their statutory funding.

The question reads:

Coming Home Funding is only for people with a learning disability and complex care needs who are placed on the DSR, currently Category Red. The funding is intended to enable a person to return home from hospital or an inappropriate out-of-area placement or to prevent admission to such.

Tell us how the applicant intends to use the Coming Home funding in addition to statutory NHS and HSCP funding.

Note: We will normally expect the local authority to meet their statutory funding obligations. ILF Scotland funds will normally be additional and complementary to statutory funding and focus on breaking down barriers to living independently in the community.

We will visit to assess applications and agree any funding.

What ILF Funding Would Enable

This section allows you to state what Coming Home Funding would enable.

You can make multiple choices. If you select Other, a free text box will appear allowing you to input up to 3,000 characters of additional information.

Step 7 – Complete the Application

This section is split into four screens:

Exceptional Circumstances

In this section, please tell us if there is anything we should know that will help us with the visit and that you haven’t shared with us previously.

This may include details about the person, their family circumstances, who represents them and what professionals are involved in their care and support for example.

Please also tell us about appropriate arrangements for a visit from our Assessor: where should this take place; who should be present; what communication barriers exist and how can we best support this.

An optional free text box allows you to include 3,000 characters of additional information.

Estimated Timescale for Discharge if Funding Agreed

Please select what the estimated timescale for discharge would be if funding is agreed.

Readiness Assessment for Discharge

Please select how confident you are that the potential Recipient is ready for discharge.

Complete This Application and Send it to ILF Scotland

In this section we ask you to confirm that to the best of your knowledge the information contained in the application is correct. Once you confirm that the statements are true one of our caseworkers will examine the application and be in touch with you to let you know how we will proceed.

Annex – Summary of Information Collected

For simplicity we have summarised all the information we are collecting in the application. Further details are provided above but this annex should help you prepare for the application process.

Contact Details and Preferences

Normally you will not need to collect contact details for the potential Recipient. However, you may need information from the representative.

We also want to find out:

• If there is a representative, who is the best person to contact to organise a visit?
• If the representative is the best person to contact to organise the visit, does the potential Recipient want to receive a copy of our communication?

Integrated Authority Funding

The information we require in this section is:

• What monetary support is provided to the potential Recipient per week
• A description of the care / support services provided for example number of hours or days and at what cost

Application Details

There are five key sections in this part of the application:

• we ask you to tell us what the potential Recipient’s disability or impairment is from a list of options
• we ask you for background information. You may provide this as a free text or by uploading documents, provided that all the information in the document you upload is relevant for the application
• we ask you to tell us the current barriers for discharge of the potential Recipient
• the fourth section is a free-text box so that you can let us know how the potential Recipient intends to use any Coming Home Funding in addition to their statutory funding
• the final screen is also a free text box allowing you to tell us what Coming Home Funding will enable

Confirm and Submit

In this section you can tell us if there is anything that ILF Scotland needs to know to make sure that our assessment visit is inclusive and safe, both for the potential Recipient and our staff.